Sophie Pender grew up in a single parent household on a council estate in North London and balanced two jobs in McDonalds and John Lewis alongside her schoolwork after losing her father to his battle with alcoholism and drug addiction. In 2014, she became the first student ever in her school's history to achieve straight A*s at A level in a school year where the GCSE pass rate was just 32%. To build a better life for herself, Sophie left her hometown for the University of Bristol to study English. After discovering the existence of the Old Boys' Club, a network that propels those from private schools into top jobs, Sophie, age 19, founded The 93% Club – a members' club for state educated people – to do the same. Since then, The 93% Club has become the largest network of state educated people in the UK - with a huge university presence and a thriving professionals network. The mission? To transform what it means to be state educated in the UK.

In addition to being the founder and CEO of The 93% Club, Sophie is an corporate lawyer, a member of the Forbes 30u30 for her social entrepreneurship, and a recipient of the Diana Legacy Award - the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. You can watch her TEDx talk "How to become socially mobile", and read and hear more about the work of The 93% Club in the Economist documentary, "Why it's harder to earn more than your parents", the BBC Radio 4 Documentary "The 93% Club", BBC News, ITV News, LBC, The Guardian and the Telegraph.